Bryan Wade: Welcome to the Sandals Church podcast. My name is Brian, and today, we are going to slow things down a bit to reflect on a command we have to rest. We all experience so much from one week to the next, and we would love for you, even for a brief moment, to experience the restorative power of rest. Wherever you are, let these words be spoken over you and give you a renewed energy for whatever comes next. Let's take a listen.
Celeste Contreras: Did you know that in the old testament, God makes practicing a day of rest an essential part of his commandments for his people. Taking a dedicated day of rest, the Sabbath as it's referred to in scripture, is listed right after the commands to reject idol worship and misusing the name of God. Taking the Sabbath is actually number 3 of 10 in the 10 commandments. In the story of Israel, this rest practice has a strange weight put on it.
And think about this. When someone sets a rule, there is a seriousness to it, and it makes us think about trying to live up to a certain standard. For example, when you hear the command, don't lie, you think about being honest in your conversations and avoiding misrepresentation. But what kind of standard is rest? How do we live up to resting when rest implies letting go?
The origin of the command to rest, to keep the Sabbath, is based on the creation story. In the book of Exodus chapter 20, God refers back to his timeline of creating the universe as his reason for establishing a day of rest. For in 6 days, the lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them, but on the 7th day, he rested. That is why the lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. Exodus 2011.
The first part of that verse for us to consider is that everything around us, the heavens, the earth, the sea, were made. Consider that. We live in a moment where we rush and take our surroundings for granted. The lord made our world. It's his creation.
You live in it. Secondly, and this is essential for understanding the rest, god made us. The heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. That's you and me. We should give pause to this thought.
In our culture, we believe that we are the sole products of our own choices. Hard work if you're focused on progress or shame if you've blown it. But all of us have, to some extent, believe the lie that we make ourselves, and we forget where we've come from. For the next few moments, reflect on the idea that you are not the product of your own hard work. This thought can bring some relief to your tight chest and anxious breathing.
You were made. That means you exist because of something beyond you. If you feel any uneasiness, that's good. That's often the starting point of real rest. Take a slow, deep breath as a way to slow yourself down in the strange thought that you are someone else's creation, and that someone else knows you and is good.
Now use your imagination and think of the most amazing view you've ever had. Maybe it's in the mountains, maybe it's the beach, maybe it's a starry sky away from city lights. Think about the expanse of the world we live in, about our view of space, a place we still know so little about. Take in your greatest view in your mind's eye, and now think about how the creator who fashioned that space did so with great power and then rested. Rest is at the origin of the universe, the god who made galaxies, fashioned fashioned stars, and solar system, and then rested.
And to his people, he says, because I rested, you should do it too. When we rest, we're invited to see ourselves properly in sequence as creation, not creator, and that is good. We live with lies that burden us about our perceived control over the world, but the creation story tells us otherwise. There can be great wonder in this gift of resting. If the infinite God rested and invites us to rest, we should do so with wonder and confidence.
Set aside some time to stop from all work, slow down, and engage in activities that bring you joy. If you can do a full 24 hours, awesome. If that's too much for you right now, try a half day or a few hours. The point here is to be intentional with some time in your schedule to stop and rest. You are invited into rest by your creator in his world.